Award-Winning Mentoring Program Celebrates Another Year of Success

Rosen College’s Peer Outreach Mentoring Program (POMP)[1] held its 2nd Annual Mentorship Ceremony on April 23 in partnership with the UCF Alumni Association[2]. This year’s mentors and mentees joined family and friends, Dean Abraham Pizam and hotelier Harris Rosen to recognize outstanding program participants and celebrate the past year’s accomplishments.

Senior restaurant and foodservice management major Ryan Burke received the Mentee of the Year Award and senior Jacqueline Gonzales, a hospitality management and event management double major, received the Mentor of the Year Award. Gabrielle Mourino, ’11 was honored with the Alumni Mentor of the Year Award.

“I am extremely proud of this year’s POMPers as they continue to make more and more contributions to the program,” said Vanessa Cogswell[3], POMP director and Rosen College academic services coordinator. “For example, Leigh Andrzejewski and Mauricio Claros created our first poster, Chaz Tommasini and Katrina Godlewski helped develop our first brochure, and even the families of several POMP participants donated to the 2014 Mentorship Ceremony. The success of the program is attributed to their hard work and the investments they have each made to make it better.”

The program, which helps at-risk, probationary and readmitted students improve their grades through peer mentorships, has earned high marks and garnered accolades for its success. It currently boasts a 96.72% overall success rate and a 98% overall retention rate.

Rosen College would like to thank its partners for their generous contributions to POMP: